Around Epinions in 80 Days: Enjoy the Rain Without Getting Wet With the Chilean Rainstick

When I was younger, one of my favorite CDs was a collection of classical music mingled with sounds from nature, particularly birdsong and raindrops. There’s something incredibly soothing about a gentle shower or even a good downpour, as long as there’s not too much thunder and lightning involved. I may have had that album in mind when, on a school trip to Washington, D.C. about ten years ago, I bought a Chilean rainstick from one of the Smithsonian museums.

We already had a very hefty set of rain chimes that, when turned over, would produce a rollicking storm for a minute or two before slowing down to a trickle. But this was compact, an instrument that I could tote around the house and even out in the yard if I wanted to. Besides, it reminded me of the stick carried by Rafiki, the zany medicine baboon in The Lion King. Every once in a while one of us will take it down and give it a shake. Mostly, though, it simply hangs on a nail on the bit of wall between the living room and kitchen, accompanied by the duck bill-shaped quacking whistle I purchased from the DUCK tour stand in Baltimore. The two go together rather nicely, as a duck in the rain is a delightfully tranquil image, no matter how squawky the creature sounds.

The stick measures about 20 inches in length and is about two and a half inches in diameter. Up at the top is a rainbow-colored piece of cloth that winds around the stick, rather like a bracelet. Stuck through ours is a keychain loop, which we use to hang it on the wall, though I don’t recall if it came like that or if we added it. The stick itself is a light brownish color, fairly smooth except for the places with dark-colored ruts or small, sharpish bumps where the rods slightly stick out of the interior.

These rods, along with an array of tiny beads, are the source of the distinctive sound. Depending on the angle at which you hold the stick, you will have varying degrees of intensity in the resulting “rain”. It’s easier to produce sound if you go for the swift, heavy storm instead of the light precipitation, but you can experiment to see what works best for you. Used carefully, it can be quite impressive-sounding, but even a young child can get a pleasing noise out of this instrument. It’s rather hard to mess up.

If you find the sounds of nature soothing, you might enjoy bringing a Chilean rain stick into your home. Even if you don’t ever give it a shake, it’s an attractive decoration. It’s also an instrument you can share with kids and grandkids with little fear of damage. “What can compare with your beautiful sound?” inquired the chorus in Bambi’s Little April Shower. Maybe a Chilean rainstick...